Stray Cat Rock: Machine Animal (1970)

Two men roll into Yokohama with an American deserter and a tin full of LSD, looking to sell the drugs to pay for transport to Sweden, where they hope to start a new life. Meiko Kaji's gang steal their LSD, but upon having the circumstances explained she decides to help them instead. A rival gang are less given to altruism.

The fourth entry in the Stray Cat Rock series is another independent story with new characters, though the template is now familiar. The equilibrium of the city's low-level criminal underworld is disrupted by new arrivals, and the realignment causes instability that leads to collapse.

Yasuharu Hasebe directs again, but the style and directorial flair seems to toned down compared to Stray Cat Rock: Sex Hunter - though the wardrobe department at least gives Meiko Kaji's iconic black hat a reprise.

Tatsuya Fuji plays a different sort of character this time, one of the relatively meek new arrivals, leaving the role of suave Yakuza boss open for Eiji Gō - whose distinctive looks and swagger fill it better, to be honest.

The story plays out without any major surprises. It has a clear setup, development and denouement but is more concerned with depicting a particular environment than narrative arc (I think this is a common feature of Japanese cinema).

If the series has a theme it's probably that the hedonistic attitude of the post-war youth in Japan is naive and prepares them poorly for life, which is rather nihilistic - but there is always the sense that the world would be a better place if it wasn't the case.